By Jeff Glucker
You don’t expect to see bump passing in a Formula 1 race. The Mint 400 is a different world for someone like Jenson Button though, and he was introduced to the world of nerfing. That’s where you give a little love tap to the truck in front of you. It’s a way to say “Hi, I’m here and I need to get around you.”
Button was running through the course when off-road legend Rob MacCachren came upon the former F1 champ. He quickly introduced himself by letting his wicked Trophy Truck say hi there. Button quickly yielded space for Rob to get on through. But the off-road introductions weren’t done yet. Brett Sourapas also wanted to say hello to Jenson, and he did so in his Coors Light-branded Trophy Truck.
Button is in a lesser-powered spec truck, so it’s not a surprise that the Trophy Trucks were eager to get on past. Sourapas went on to grab the second podium spot behind Mint 400 winner Justin Lofton. MacCachren was running well earlier in the race but suffered a tire puncture later on.
We’ll be curious to hear more about Jenson’s overall race experience. Hopefully he had fun out there, and will jump back behind the wheel soon.
He can use iRacing to practice.
Looks like they could use the Rallysafe system, which was developed for tarmac rallying (Targa Tasmania etc), and has since been used at the Monte Carlo Rally. Apart from tracking cars, timing, and enabling comms when they stop, it has vehicle-to-vehicle comms with a “push to pass” button that puts a message on the screen of the car in front. https://rallysafe.com.au/about/
Or maybe…a rear view mirror? They don’t appear to be on a particularly dusty section in the picture above.
I imagine Mr Button had his hands full. He seems to be looking for somewhere to pull over early in the vid when there was no space.
You’re way late to the party Gluk’, he’s already signed for the Baja 1000.
Oh that’s rad!